


When chandeliers light up the engine room

by thepromiseimadetoyou



Series: The rustic gears of establishment [2]
Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: Androids, M/M, Rick and Fact and their son Space, Team Bonding, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 14:50:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18813142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepromiseimadetoyou/pseuds/thepromiseimadetoyou
Summary: If you're lost in the blue I'll reach like a comet to you...The Reject Core room is lonely with hispartnerbest friend and the kid lost in their own heads. When the astronaut game returns the same result as always Rick takes a chance on one of his last hopes.





	When chandeliers light up the engine room

God _damn_ does the quiet bother him. So does being stuck in this room. No-one gets in or out without an employee ID badge. Sucks that they're all dead now that the Boss Lady killed 'em. Kinda sucks that she's dead too now. Eh, maybe not. She'd never let 'em out anyway. If they don't run out of power then they can just wait for the door to deteriorate. The facility's already goin' to ruins anyhow.

He pounds on the door again but to no avail.

“SPAAAAAACE!”

Okay maybe it's not completely quiet. But the kid hasn't screamed like that in ages. Just been mumbling for years now. A melancholy look crosses his features as the kid runs around yammering on about space cops. Boss Lady really did a number on the poor core. “Hey kid, can ya go check on somebody for me?”

The smaller core stops in front him and just stares. It's a dead stare, really creepy 'cuz he aint movin' either.

He sighs. He misses the old Enthusiasm Core, but at least he knows how to play the kid's corruption to his purposes. He puts on a big grin and pretends he's playing with one of the human kids like he did ages ago. “I've got a mission for you, astronaut!”

“Oh, oh, a space mission! I've got a space mission!”

“Ya bet your ass ya do! Mission Control needs ya to report on the status of a fellow astronaut. They lost contact with him.”

“The pink astronaut? Space Core saves the day! And space! Space Core saves space!” The kid runs off to a corner of the room where a bunch of offline cores had piled up. Save for him and the kid only two other cores in the room were online – one just barely.

The 'pink astronaut' as the kid had come to call Fact Core thanks to his pretend space missions, is leaning against the wall next to them. Sitting atop the bodies is a white-haired core that he would've assumed was offline too if it weren't for their eyes glowing, 'cuz they sure acted dead. Maybe the flashlight's the only part of 'em that works anymore. Yeesh, that's a depressing thought.

The kid says something to Fact, then comes running back to him. “Space mission successful!”

“Report?”

“Space pens!”

“Good work, astronaut.” He lets the kid run off again before giving up on the door for the third time today. 'Space pens' just meant 'pens' which he knows is one of Fact's data loops. Like naming fruit.

He walks over and flops down next to Fact and listens to his friend's mumbling. God does he miss the old days. Corruption fucking sucks. 'Course he's corrupt too, just not as bad as the rest of his team.

“-ens. Pens. Pens. Pe-”

He grabs two fistfuls of Fact's vest and angrily shakes the core back and forth. **“Snap out of it, Four-eyes!”**

“The billionth digit of Pi is nine.”

A frustrated sigh and he lets go of the core's clothes. Got him snapped out of the loop but it's not really any better than he's been.

“The square root of rope is string.”

Crestfallen, he takes hold of Fact's hand. The physical contact hasn't helped since the corruption but he always tries. “Damn it, Pinky, I miss ya.” When the only reaction is silence he decides to take a chance on an idea that's been bouncing around in his head for a while now. A cursory glance to make sure the kid isn't watching, then that Flashlight is facing the other way. Good. Now to give this a shot.

Lips meet, and it's probably static or something but he swears he feels a spark. Fact just sits there so he leans back from the kiss even more frustrated than before. “Fuckin' hell. There's gotta be something to wake you up...”

“This room is dark.”

Brows raise in surprise and he stares at Fact. “Holy shit.” Yeah what he said is a fact, but it's not useless trivia or a data loop like everything else that's come out of his mouth since the corruption began.

“Shit is not holy.”

An excited laugh escapes him. “Can ya prove it?”

“Under no circumstances can a corrupted core such as Chivalry be holy.”

Despite being ecstatic that he's finally having a conversation with his closest friend again, he notices the insult. “Are you callin' me what I think you are? Hey it's only thanks to me you're still around. With all the danger we've been through I'm more of an Adventure Core. Designed for situations like this.”

“The Adventure Core is a blowhard.”

He tightens his grip on Fact's hand. “No, I'm Rick the Adventure Core. And you're Four-eyes or Pinky. Depends on my mood.”

“Craig is the best name.”

“Sure. Whatever ya want.” He can't keep the beaming grin off his face. “Just happy to have ya back.”

In the darkened room it's hard to see what goes on, but the glow of their optics light up each others faces enough that Rick can see the smile form on Craig's face. And then as if to make this moment even more of a miracle Craig takes hold of Rick's shirt and tugs him close enough to press their lips together. Green optics go wide, having not expected his feelings to be returned.

Within seconds the two cores are lost in each other's touch, only breaking apart at the sound of a confused voice questioning the scene. “Mission Control? Pink astronaut?”

“Is that Enthusiasm?” Craig asks.

“Yep.” Rick says as he turns to face the corrupted Enthusiasm Core, gesturing for him to come closer. “Astronaut's saved, kiddo! Come report in.”

Yellow eyes brighten at the sight of a responsive Fact Core and the smallest of the trio jumps onto him for a hug that for the first time in a long time, is returned.

Rick sits back to watch, still smiling. The situation is still bleak but it's improved a bit. And no matter what happens they're together. Like family should be.

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from the Owl City song Umbrella Beach. Italicized lyrics in description from the Hyper Potions & Skye Rocket song [Shooting Star](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP_mYoFW5zQ).


End file.
